Dear Friend,

The next part of the book journey for The Truth Was Different consisted of seeking help from my friends. It's hard to row on your own. So, grab a nice drink, settle into a cozy chair, and relax as you follow the saga of how being an author isn't as solitary a vocation as you may have believed.

I needed to make sure that what I thought was riveting and self-explanatory actually was, but how? Enter those friends willing to read the entire book and tell me how it needed to be improved--my beta-readers. Compliments are nice, but they don't spur you on to do better! I needed ruthless critics. I started with five, and then someone who read it for a different reason also told me what could be improved. An even half-dozen amazing people.

After another rewrite and more editing, I was ready to send the galleys to a team of various experts with the hope that they might like it and provide advance praise. I chose to ask a psychologist because my grandmother was a mess, a physician because of the medical mysteries in the book, and a rabbi because my grandmother was part-Jewish. I also asked a couple of bishops, a Dutch missionary, and the director of the Church's Ministry Among Jewish people because, even though my grandmother wasn't a believer, a faith element runs through the book and she did pray.

The only paid review I sought was from Kirkus Reviews, because it's so well-respected. It was fun to see that they called it "compulsively readable" and "compelling and unapologetic." To see the other advance praise, check out this page.

The book is available for preorder! You can order the hardback on Amazon and the paperback at books.by/rrbooks.

ttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/209507073-unforgivabln

With love,

Caroline